Mountain Fire

Fire crews were able to contain a mountain fire near Mercersburg, Pa., Friday afternoon that involved about five to 10 acres, Franklin County emergency dispatchers said. The fire in the 6000 block of Pine Road was reported at 4:13 p.m., according to dispatchers. Firefighters were still on the scene “mopping up” hotspots as of 7:10 p.m., but the fire was otherwise contained, according to a dispatcher. “Pretty rough and steep terrain leading to the area” was a challenge for fire crews from Mercersburg, St. Thomas and Greencastle who responded to the scene, according to a dispatcher.

Though smoke and at least one helicopter were visible from the Sheetz store at Md. 66 and U.S. 40, a fire official said a mountain fire at Greenbrier State Park was not out of the ordinary. The fire was reported in the state park off Mountain Laurel Road, north of Keadle Road, just after 4:30 p.m., said Terry Stouffer, chief of the Mount Aetna Volunteer Fire Department. Stouffer said the fire, which was nearly one mile from the road, grew to an area of nearly 3 acres at its peak.

HEDGESVILLE, W.Va. - A mountain fire off W.Va. 9 ignited by a lightning strike last week rekindled Tuesday after it had been snuffed out in the early morning hours, officials said. Jim Guerrin of the West Virginia Division of Forestry estimated the fire burned between two and a half to three acres in a remote forested area west of Hedgesville before volunteer firefighters from Hedgesville, Bedington and Back Creek Valley were able to extinguish what was a smoldering fire. No homes or other structures were threatened, Guerrin said.

ROXBURY, Pa. - A mountain fire in Lurgan Township continued burning Tuesday night, four days after it started. "It just gets under the rocks and comes up somewhere else," Pleasant Hall Volunteer Fire Co. Chief Eric Varner said Tuesday evening. He had just returned to the fire hall from the scene, about two miles west of Roxbury on Blue Mountain. The fire is in steep, rugged terrain. It's difficult for firefighters to get to, let alone haul the equipment and water needed to put it out. Varner said it takes about 45 minutes for crews to hike from the nearest road to the remote area.

ROUZERVILLE, PA. -- The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources was investigating the cause of Monday's mountain fire that ultimately consumed 37 acres in Washington Township, Pa. DNCR Bureau of Forestry crews continued to monitor the woods north of Mentzer Gap Road on Tuesday for hot spots that could rekindle the blaze. Blue Ridge (Pa.) Fire Lt. Tyke Smith said the fire had expanded to 37 acres by the time it was extinguished. No injuries or home damage were reported, although the fire got close to several mobile homes Monday afternoon.

View the slideshow ROUZERVILLE, Pa. --Â More than 100 firefighters on the ground and in the air attacked a mountain fire Monday that consumed 15 acres near Pine Hill Regional Recreation Area in Washington Township and threatened nearby homes for several hours. Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry crews were expected to stay overnight to monitor the situation, which had calmed by press time despite strengthening winds. The fire broke out around 2:30 p.m. in the woods north of Mentzer Gap Road, about four and a half miles east of Waynesboro, Pa. Mike Bock responded to the 911 calls and followed directions from residents of the Ashton Heights mobile home park when they pointed toward smoke on the mountain.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - A Tuesday afternoon mountain fire northeast of Waynesboro was the fifth blaze of its type reported to the 911 center in Franklin County, Pa., since March 1. The fire, reported at 12:30 p.m., was contained to 3 acres of private property off Polidor Road but kept firefighters from seven companies busy for nearly four hours. The cause of the fire is under investigation by Rod Lyon, a forest fire specialist supervisor with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry.

NEEDMORE, Pa. - A mountain fire that began sometime last week was still smoldering Sunday in Fulton County, according to a Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry official. "There's still a lot of stumps and logs in there burning," said Merl Waltz, the district forester in McConnellsburg, Pa. Only forestry firefighters were at the scene Sunday afternoon, but he expected they or local firefighters will be keeping an eye on the blaze for the next few days. The fire on state forest lands was first reported at 5:15 p.m. Thursday, according to Needmore Volunteer Fire Co. Rescue Chief Buddy Kerns.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Two backyard fires that blew out of control and a smoking mountaintop kept Berkeley County firefighters busy Sunday. Flames destroyed a shed and scorched two acres of land Sunday afternoon after a man lost control of a debris fire on Oak Grove School Road near Hedgesville, W.Va. The Hedgesville Volunteer Fire Department spent about 45 minutes putting out the 1 p.m. fire that also burned the skirting off an abandoned trailer on the property, said Hedgesville Assistant Fire Chief Brett Minnick.

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Students and faculty members at Shippensburg University reacted tearfully Wednesday to the news that a charred body found in a mountain fire early Tuesday was that of a marketing major who had been shot in the head. cont. from news page Sydney S. Bull, 23, a senior from Norristown, Pa., was slain and his body set on fire in the Michaux State Forest just outside Franklin County, Cumberland County Coroner Mike Norris said Wednesday. "We are posting a $10,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator or perpetrators of this crime," University President Anthony F. Ceddia told a group of more than 200 students, faculty and press at a noon meeting in the Old Main Chapel.

Fire crews were able to contain a mountain fire near Mercersburg, Pa., Friday afternoon that involved about five to 10 acres, Franklin County emergency dispatchers said. The fire in the 6000 block of Pine Road was reported at 4:13 p.m., according to dispatchers. Firefighters were still on the scene “mopping up” hotspots as of 7:10 p.m., but the fire was otherwise contained, according to a dispatcher. “Pretty rough and steep terrain leading to the area” was a challenge for fire crews from Mercersburg, St. Thomas and Greencastle who responded to the scene, according to a dispatcher.

The state has suspended the emergency services license of a Blue Ridge Mountain fire company, an action that a local fire official said will delay ambulance service for residents in eastern Jefferson County near the Virginia border. Effective Wednesday, the West Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services suspended the Blue Ridge Mountain Volunteer Fire Department's license to provide emergency medical services, according to a news release from the Jefferson County Emergency Services Agency.

Skid loader stolen CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- A 2008 Bobcat skid loader belonging to Greene Township was stolen between Sunday and Tuesday, Pennsylvania State Police said. The Model A300 Bobcat, worth $34,000, is white and orange with an enclosed cab, Greene Township decal and equipment number 37GT, police said. The serial number is 539912549, police said. The loader was on Brindle Road when it was taken, police said. Anyone with information about the theft may call police at 717-264-5161.

MERCERSBURG, PA. -- Firefighters withdrew from Claylick Mountain at about 3 p.m. Thursday after mopping up the remnants of a fire that burned about 45 wooded acres Wednesday near Whitetail Resort, a spokesman from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry said. A little more than a dozen firefighters from the Bureau of Forestry were on the mountain Thursday to extinguish hotspots, said Ray Miller, a spokesman with the McConnellsburg office of the Bureau of Forestry. Firefighters were able to use logging roads to get a tanker truck to the scene.

A fire that destroyed a one-story house Wednesday at 3746 Trego Mountain Road near Keedysville caused about $250,000 in damages, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office. The origin of the blaze remained under investigation Thursday. The damage to the house was listed at $200,000 in a release from the Fire Marshal's Office. Damage to contents was set at $50,000. Eric Gray, deputy fire chief of Potomac Valley Fire Co., said the remote location of the house forced firefighters to haul water to the scene from a pond about five miles away.

Gypsy moth spraying set in Pa. WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- Gypsy moth spraying will start in the next few days in Franklin County and 24 other Pennsylvania counties to suppress the woodland insect pest. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) announced gypsy moths are prevalent enough to require 178,000 acres of woodlands to be sprayed in parts of the state. Officials described the gypsy moth as "one of the most destructive forest pests in Pennsylvania.

ROUZERVILLE, PA. -- The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources was investigating the cause of Monday's mountain fire that ultimately consumed 37 acres in Washington Township, Pa. DNCR Bureau of Forestry crews continued to monitor the woods north of Mentzer Gap Road on Tuesday for hot spots that could rekindle the blaze. Blue Ridge (Pa.) Fire Lt. Tyke Smith said the fire had expanded to 37 acres by the time it was extinguished. No injuries or home damage were reported, although the fire got close to several mobile homes Monday afternoon.

ROUZERVILLE, Pa. -- First actions taken at Monday's mountain fire in Washington Township, Pa., involved first responders identifying the affected area's boundaries, four main points for their attack and ways to access the forest with equipment. "With these kinds of fires, it takes time to get people assembled," Blue Ridge (Pa.) Fire Chief Jim Meek said. All firefighters must take a class that trains them for forest fires, and many in local departments have experienced them before, he said.

View the slideshow ROUZERVILLE, Pa. --Â More than 100 firefighters on the ground and in the air attacked a mountain fire Monday that consumed 15 acres near Pine Hill Regional Recreation Area in Washington Township and threatened nearby homes for several hours. Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry crews were expected to stay overnight to monitor the situation, which had calmed by press time despite strengthening winds. The fire broke out around 2:30 p.m. in the woods north of Mentzer Gap Road, about four and a half miles east of Waynesboro, Pa. Mike Bock responded to the 911 calls and followed directions from residents of the Ashton Heights mobile home park when they pointed toward smoke on the mountain.

HEDGESVILLE, W.Va. - A mountain fire off W.Va. 9 ignited by a lightning strike last week rekindled Tuesday after it had been snuffed out in the early morning hours, officials said. Jim Guerrin of the West Virginia Division of Forestry estimated the fire burned between two and a half to three acres in a remote forested area west of Hedgesville before volunteer firefighters from Hedgesville, Bedington and Back Creek Valley were able to extinguish what was a smoldering fire. No homes or other structures were threatened, Guerrin said.